One Piece Grand Gourmet: A Simulated Feast Game Review

One Piece is the series that led me to the person I am today; back in college, I discovered the broader world of manga beyond what was being limitedly published in English at the time, and One Piece instantly sucked me in. I've met so many people, attended conventions, pursued my own dreams, and through all of those, One Piece has been somewhere in and around all of those pursuits. Along that journey, One Piece video games have been something I've always been curious about; after all, who doesn't love trying to see their favorite series in a new medium, or even as something you could play and interact with? My first imported games were One Piece GameCube games, and I've played probably every One Piece game that's been released. So when I was offered the chance to review Grand Gourmet, I jumped at the opportunity because lately, quite frankly, One Piece video games have been a little stale. There are only so many Musou-style beat-em-ups I can tolerate, and the turn-based RPG of One Piece Odyssey was a fun diversion from action. But can a pixel-based restaurant simulator set in the One Piece universe possibly have the juice to be worth your time? Well, the answer might be surprising!

The main gist of the game starts with Luffy and Sanji finding themselves on a version of the Baratie that, by all logic, should not exist, or at least, by the current state of One Piece at the time the game is set, shouldn't be anywhere near the Straw Hat crew. While the timing of the game is fairly nebulous, it's absolutely set well after the time skip and during the Grand Line period of One Piece, which is a far cry from the original Baratie appearance back in East Blue. The game kind of handwaves this discrepancy in the way that a filler arc or film might do so, and frankly it works because the game quickly begins to divert from One Piece lore and knowledge as a main requirement to enjoy the title. Your character, that you get to customize with some general options, is apparently some form of… robot? That can't really talk but can apparently run a good back-of-house for a floating restaurant. You're quickly recruited to work with Sanji to help the decision-making of the new Baratie, while Luffy tends to go off adventuring on a timer-based system to gather ingredients and meet new customers and other events, accompanied by the talking duck that you are paired with.

As I mentioned, knowing a lot about One Piece isn't that required in this particular game, because the game doesn't have a particularly deep story or barrier to entry; although I suppose someone looking for a simulator game might look elsewhere than here first, I think the game itself is engaging and interesting enough that not really knowing anything about One Piece wouldn't turn a player away. The game doesn't really push a lot of the management simulation on you in the manual sense, like in an Overcooked or similar game, instead offering you the chance to make certain decisions like where to place new buildings, menu items, checking on menus, sending Luffy off on adventures, and similar simulation management style exercises. That said… the game really doesn't tell you a whole heck of a lot at times, and the first hour or so of gameplay is like a non-stop torrent of “tutorials”, in the sense that players are introduced to a new mechanic and then, before that becomes rote, a new one shows up. I had a little bit of adjustment anxiety to this flow at first, but once the tutorials started slowing down, the rhythm of the game started to click and make sense. There is a daily timer, and the overall goal is to help the Baratie make more money than the “fake” Baratie, which then similarly opens up more of the One Piece world. Each area features characters from those arcs of One Piece, and this is where being a fan of just about any level becomes fun, as characters big and small start popping up in all sorts of odd ways. If anything, the Straw Hats themselves are oddly absent for a good chunk of the game, but you're going to see a lot of various side characters quite a bit. There are also some odd time shenanigans that the game doesn't try to address, such as why Koby or Helmeppo are the way they were 20+ years ago when you meet them, or why characters that are dead are visiting your restaurant, but that probably is best left at the door; this game is not trying to rewrite history or redo the One Piece canon.

What it is trying to do, though, is bring a very old-fashioned simulation game to players with One Piece as the theme, and in that regard, the game is quite successful. I really enjoyed building and creating my own Baratie and its menu, designing which items would go on which meal set, what items would decorate the plate, and even what the general decor is like. The RPG elements make it so that your choices matter in how the game works and let you choose the way the Baratie looks and works at your own discretion. There's the general goal, but also lots of little sidequests you can pursue, and even reasons to revisit areas you've already cleared, which the game does its best to illustrate for you with various! marks in your menus or notations that an area you cleared may not be 100% cleared. I do have to wonder slightly if the One Piece branding helps or hurts the game from a sales perspective, as I think this little restaurant sim feels very fun and unique in how it plays like a forgotten SNES or GBA game, but also that without the One Piece branding, it very well may not have been made or existed. In the end, the game is certainly worth a look if you happen to be a fan of restaurant simulation RPGs and also One Piece. Perhaps ironically, I don't know if I can suggest it just for One Piece fans, but if you like simulation games, then it may actually be a good time and worth a try!